Federer and Sharapova breeze into Aus Open second round

Sport360 staff 14:27 18/01/2016
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  • Federer secured a comfortable win.

    The Swiss third seed crushed the Georgian 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 in just 72 minutes and will play Ukraine’s Aleksandr Dolgopolov in the second round.

    The 17-time Grand Slam champion was in a different class to his 117th-ranked opponent and showcased his full arsenal of shots against the bemused Basilashvili in their first meeting.

    “I am very happy. The first round is never easy and I’ve never played against Nikoloz so it was nice opening on centre court in a night session which is always a pressure situation,” Federer said.

    “It was a great match and I hope I can keep it up.”

    He broke the Georgian eight times in a dominating performance and maintained his record of never having lost in the first round in Melbourne in 17 appearances.

    The Swiss great, playing in his 65th consecutive Grand Slam tournament, hit a total of 31 winners and won 91 percent of his first serve points.

    In the women’s draw, fifth seed Maria Sharapova crushed Japan’s Nao Hibino in a ruthless first round display as she fired a warning to her rivals in Melbourne.

    The Russian, attempting to win her first title at Melbourne Park since 2008, was in blistering form to take the match 6-1, 6-3 in 73 minutes on Margaret Court Arena.

    Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki didn’t have the same luck, crashing out at the first hurdle and admitting she had no one but herself to blame.

    The Dane, who remains one of the most marketable players in tennis despite never winning a major in 35 attempts, tossed away a one-set lead against 76th-ranked Kazakh Yulia Putintseva.

    “I would say it’s a pretty s***** start to the season,” Wozniacki told a press conference. “It wasn’t a pretty first set but I got it done and really should have closed it off in two.

    “You know, I let her back into the match, and it was basically my own fault that I’m not here as the winner.”

    She romped through the first set against Putintseva but as the Kazakh’s confidence grew, Wozniacki struggled to cope with her baseline game and went down 1-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 in 3hrs 12 mins.

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